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Hydropower:
Hydropower represents one of the oldest and largest
renewable power sources and accounts for close to 10%
of our nations electricity. Existing hydropower capacity is
about 80,000 megawatts (MW one million watts or one
thousand kilowatts). Hydropower plants convert the
energy of flowing water into electricity. This is primarily
done by damming rivers to create large reservoirs and then
releasing water through turbines to produce electricity.
Hydropower results in no emissions into the atmosphere
but the process of damming a river can create significant
ecological problems for water quality and for fish and
wildlife habitat.
Biomass
Biomass is second to hydropower as a leader in
renewable energy production. Biomass has an existing
capacity of over 7,000 MW. Biomass as a fuel consists of
organic matter such as industrial waste, agricultural waste,
wood, and bark. Biomass can be burned directly in
specially designed power plants, or used to replace up
to15% of coal as a fuel in ordinary power plants. Biomass
burns cleaner than coal because it has less sulfur, which
means less sulfur dioxide will be emitted into the atmosphere. Biomass can also be used indirectly, since it
produces methane gas as it decays or through a modern
process called gasification. Methane can produce power
by burning in a boiler to create steam to drive steam
turbines or through internal combustion in gas turbines and
reciprocating engines.
The largest use of biomass energy in Virginia is the
forest products industry. Furniture plants, sawmills, and
paper mills usually burn their wood waste to produce heat
and electricity. Many homeowners use firewood or pellets
for winter heat.
Geothermal
Geothermal electric capacity in the United States is
over 3,000 MW. Geothermal power plants use high
temperatures deep underground to produce steam, which
then powers turbines that produce electricity. Geothermal
power plants can draw from underground reservoirs of hot
water or can heat water by pumping it into hot, dry rock.
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Solar Energy
Solar energy comes directly from the power of the
sun and is used to produce electricity, to produce heat, and
for light. Solar represents a small share of the electric
market in the United States about of one percent of
electrical capacity. Solar's contribution to heating and
lighting is much larger.
Solar-electric power can be produced either by
power plants using the suns heat or by photovoltaic (PV)
technology, which converts sunlight directly to electricity
using solar cells. PV technology is more practical for
residential use.
Systems to use the heat of the sun directly can be
either active or passive. In active systems, air or liquid
circulate through solar collectors and bring heat to where it
is used. In passive systems, buildings are built with
windows and heat-absorbing surfaces set up to maximize
solar heating in winter. Either technology is suitable for
residential use.
Systems to directly use the light of the sun are most
common. The most usual device for using sunlight is the
window, but skylights and skylight tubes are also used.
Wind Power
Wind energy represents 4,700 megawatts (MW) of
installed electric capacity in the United States. Wind has
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Figure 12-1 - Grid-connected residential microhydropower system. Meter between generator and home is
optional.
been the fastest growing energy source in the U.S. over
the last decade mainly due to very significant improvements in wind energy technology. The American Wind
Energy Association predicts that 6,000 MW of windpower
will be installed by the end of 2004. This is enough to
power 1.5 million homes. Wind power is produced by the
energy of the wind turning aerodynamic blades mounted to
a hub. The hub is connected to a shaft that turns a generator. Large utility-scale wind turbines range in size from 50
kilowatts to over four megawatts. Smaller wind towers
(under 50 kW) are suitable for residential and agricultural
use.
Fuel Cells
A fuel cell is an alternative energy device, but it is
not necessarily a renewable energy device. It is only
renewable if the source of the fuel used is renewable. A
fuel cell is an electrochemical device, like a battery in that
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which can be substantial, and this requires the appropriate
research, site considerations, need assessment, and cost
effectiveness study. Generating your own electricity and
heat may not always make you money or save you money
but it can create independence from the utility grid and
allow you to generate your own clean and green power.
Keep in mind that reducing energy use through conservation and increased efficiency is almost always a cheaper
alternative than installing a renewable energy system.
Here are some specific residential renewable energy
systems that use the renewable resources that we have
discussed above.
Microhydropower Systems
If you have a stream or creek on your property then
you might be able to generate electricity using hydropower.
Microhydropower systems, if resources and conditions are
appropriate, are capable of powering a normal size residence. These systems operate on the same principle as a
large hydropower system moving water turns a turbine,
which then drives a generator to produce electricity.
Microhydropower does not need to dam the water source
to operate but without a dam the power will fluctuate with
the normal rise and fall of the creek or stream.
The key components of a successful
microhydropower system are the head and flow of the
available water resource. The head is the vertical distance
that the water falls and flow is the volume of the water.
Producing electricity is a combination of proper head and
flow and using efficient and properly installed equipment.
Utilizing the services of a trained professional to do a
complete hydrological study is highly recommended but
may be expensive. You can learn to perform your own
feasibility study by going to http://www.eere.energy.gov/
consumerinfo/refbriefs/ab2.html.
Costs will vary on microhydropower systems depending on size of generator, length of pipe needed, whether a
dam is needed, and other variables.
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produce heat but instead produce electricity directly from
the interaction of sunlight and semiconductor materials.
PV products are typically manufactured as individual solar
panels that can be added to a structure or mounted on the
ground. PV manufacturers, however, are starting to
incorporate PV into building materials such as roofing
shingles, metal roofing, and window glass. The cost of
these products is partially offset by the cost of the building
material they replace, and are architecturally very appealing.
There are numerous PV technologies, but most can
be grouped into one of two major categories: "crystalline
silicon" and thin film slicon. Crystalline silicon solar cells
are cut from crystals of silicon, and their size is limited by
the size of crystals that can be produced. Individual cells
are electricly connected together to form a PV module.
One or more PV modules can be connected together on
your roof to produce the desired amount of electricity.
Thin film silicon cells differ in that thin layers of semiconductor materials are deposited directly onto a glass or thin
metal substrate. The size of the silicon thin films can be
much larger than that of silicon crystals, so individual cells
can be made much larger and fewer are needed. Crystalline cells have more output for a given cell area, but thin
films will cover a larger area for lower cost.
There are three things to consider before purchasing
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provide power at night and in cloudy weather.
Determining the size of your system is an important
consideration because this will determine your capacity as
well as your initial cost. Working with a professional PV
installer is a good first step in determining your electrical
output needs and cost options.
There are loan programs available that might help to
offset the initial costs for a PV system; they will be
discussed later. PV systems are expensive, but a PV
system is quiet, is non-polluting, and requires no fuel.
Since solar energy is a growing technology, the price of
equipment and installation will decrease over time. The
price of fossil fuels and electricity, by contrast, will probably continue to increase.
Solar technology that is installed at the time of home
construction can be more cost effective if integrated in
such a way as to offset the cost of traditional building
materials. Solar costs can be rolled into an energy efficient
mortgage package.
To identify solar equipment manufacturers and solar
installers contact the American Solar Energy Society at
www.ases.org and the Maryland DC Virginia Solar
Energy Industries Association at www.mdv-seia.org .
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Figure 12-3 - Grid-connected residential wind energy system. Meter between power conditioner and home is
optional.
are combined to form a residential power package.
The benefits of residential fuel cells are numerous:
Fuel cells are very efficient because they convert
chemical energy directly into electrical energy
without combustion.
Fuel cells are fuel flexible and can use just about any
fossil fuel: propane, natural gas, methanol, ethanol, oil,
or gasoline. They can also use renewably-generated
hydrogen.
Fuel cells run continuously and are easily maintained
although maintenance can vary depending on the
technology of the fuel cell.
Some disadvantages to fuel cells are:
Residential fuel cell technology is very new and still
being tested
The cost of a residential fuel cell is still high - $6,000
to $10,000 for a 5kW system that could power a
standard size home.
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batteries for storing power, and an inverter to produce
alternating current. For further information on fuel cells
check out www.fuelcells.org .
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solar space heat, solar water heat, solar thermal electricity,
and photovoltaic systems. Contact your local Commissioner of Revenue to see if your county offers the exemption and for further information.
Net Metering
Net metering allows customers to receive the full
retail value of any excess electricity they generate from
their solar, wind, or hydroelectric system. When you use
power from the grid you pay for it, but when you supply
excess renewably-generated power to the grid your
electric meter essentially spins backward and subtracts
kilowatt hours from your bill. The law requires all utilities
under the jurisdiction of the State Corporation Commission
to offer net metering to residential systems of 10 kW or
less and to non-residential systems of 500 kW or less. The
law limits the amount of net metered generation in any
particular utility distribution territory to 0.1% of the previous years peak electricity demand. Rate payers can apply
the credit for electricity generated from their system to the
following month; however, at the end of the year, any
excess generation is granted to the utility. Contact your
local utility provider or the Virginia Department of Mines,
Minerals and Energy for more information.
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